Reanalysis on the Climatic Characteristics of Lhasa During 1904~1907 A.D.
1904～1907年拉萨气候特征再分析

Historical documents, especially the personal diaries in history, have unique advantages in reflecting climatic events or disaster events, i.e., accuracy in recording time and describing events. Basing on the deep analysis on historical documents, particularly "Weather Diary of Lhasa Recorded by You Tai" lasting from February 9, 1904 to April 17, 1907, the climatic characteristics of Lhasa during this period are summarized as follows. During 1904~1907 A.D., the climate of Lhasa was warm with obvious warm winter, and the temperature of 1905 was warmer than that of 1904. At the same period, it was dominated by dry climate accompanied by temporary periods with rich rain; the weather was diverse with plenty of wind and fog. In addition, the natural disasters occurred frequently, including waterlogging, snow hazard, and drought, etc. Analysis also indicates that the climatic change of Lhasa during 1904~1907 A.D. was generally consistent with that of other regions of China and the world, which implies that the period from the late 19th century and the early 20th century was one transition period from the cold to the warm for the climate of Tibetan Plateau. Combining with other analyses about the proxy records of climatic change, we can approve from the regional angle that the Little Ice Age (LIA) was the most direct background event of current global warming. In the future research, we expect to perfect the understanding about the climatic change characteristics of Lhasa during 1904~1907 A.D., which will be beneficial to the understanding about the climatic change of the whole Tibetan Plateau.